Using Dice
For those not used to the system, WhiteWolf's style of roll-construction can be a bit overwhelming and confusingly open-ended. Given that there are 9 Attributes and 30 Abilities, which can theoretically all be combined (though some stretch the imagination a bit...) this is understandable. This page is an attempt to break down the method and theory of constructing a roll. Approach The first question that must always be asked is "how is the character approaching the problem?" When confronted with a locked door, how do they attempt to get past it? Break it down? Pick the lock? Bullshit someone with the key into opening it? Answering this question will usually present at least part of the (Attribute + Ability) equation that is the bedrock of the system. Some approaches will simply not be applicable to some situations. No matter how persuasive you are, you cannot talk a lock into unlocking itself. No matter how athletic you are, you cannot do squats until the Prince agrees with your argument (well, usually, some Princes are just like that). This is usually adjudicated by your ST, but a measure of common sense goes a long way here. Details Once the broad strokes of the approach have been decided upon, you can refine them. Picking a lock is a delicate operation, thus requiring Dexterity, and you must also know how, thus requiring Larceny. This could be considered a "generic" lock-picking roll. However, not all locks are created equal. This is where Difficulty comes into play. Difficulty The Difficulty of a roll describes what number we are looking for on the dice when rolled. You will see shorthand for rolls along the lines of "Dex+Dodge, diff 6" or the like. To break that example down, it means "roll your Dexterity plus your Dodge, looking for 6s or higher on the dice". A more difficult action obviously requires a higher Difficulty. A dollar-store padlock might be Difficulty 5 to pick, but a multi-tumbler beast that requires multiple keys might be something as intimidating as Difficulty 9! Gauging Difficulty is tricky, and very much something of a learned skill (you get a feel for it), but there are rough guidelines in place: *Your bog-standard Difficulty is 6'''. This results in a roughly 50/50 chance of success. *The lowest Difficulty you will generally see is '''3, which reflects very easy tasks that still contain a potential for failure. *The highest Difficulty you will generally see is 9', reflecting ''extremely difficult tasks, which require extensive skill and training to even attempt with any hope of success. Modifiers Some effects (mystical powers, equipment, merits, flaws, etc.) impose a Difficulty Bonus or Penalty. So, for instance, you might have a trait that says "you suffer +1 Difficulty on any Athletics roll" or "you gain -1 Difficulty on any roll related to hacking a computer". These do exactly what it says on the tin: you take the Difficulty your Storyteller has assigned and modify it as noted before rolling. Of particular note is that modifiers '''can stack up. Thus, if you have a flaw that gives you a penalty to ranged attacks, and your weapon is low quality so it has a penalty to hit, those will combine and make your task that much harder. Particularly nasty modifiers affect your dice pool itself, most notably Wound Penalties. These are generally noted in rules as "dice pool penalties" or denoted as "-2 dice" or the like, and they do what you'd expect: they remove dice before you even roll them. Degrees of Success With many rolls, rolling more successes is better. You do the thing faster, or with more flair, or more solidly. In most circumstances, any successes beyond the first are counted as "bonus successes" for this sort of benefit. There is also a more advanced aspect of rolling, where some rolls require more than just a "simple success." These will always be noted as such for the most part, either in the rules of whatever is asking for them or just your ST saying "this will need 3 successes." Thus, you must first roll the required number of successes for the action to even work in the first place! Any successes beyond those usually contribute as noted above. The Discord Bot We have a dice-rolling bot on the Discord server, officially known as Sidekick but affectionately renamed to One Dice Boi, used predominantly in the #bot-spam channel. The official page for the bot is here, but the commands we use regularly are summarized below: /r (x)d10>=(y)f1 (x) is the number of dice you roll, (y) is the Difficulty, rolling one is a failure, rolling more failures than successes is a botch. /r (x)d10t10>=(y)f1 If a ten is rolled then count it twice, used for Specialties. If your ST doesn't want 1s to eat successes ("botches") then you just leave the f1 off the above rolls. Category:Reference Category:Rules